OT or UT

[kdawson]

My dd is 3.4 months old and has no noticeable sleep cues.  This is a typical scenario and I really don't know if she is OT or UT.  Wake at 8:00am, naps for 1 hr 15 min, awake for 1 hr 20 minutes, naps for 35 minutes, and because she got such a short nap I start putting her down after 1 hr.  However, sometimes she will cry as soon as I start to put on her clothes as if she knows she's going to go down for a nap and it take 20 minutes to get her to sleep and she will just all of a sudden stop crying and fall asleep on me and then I transfer to the crib.  Of course, she wakes up less than 1/2 hr and is cranky.  Or if I am really lucky she will sleep 40 minutes.  We have a good wind down routine where I change her diaper, put on her clothes and then she sits on me. 

I think it is OT but then I would think the A times are ok, plus I wouldn't think she would start crying as soon as the nap routine starts.  Any ideas?

[creations]

It sounds like you might be putting her down too early after a short nap.  Her crying could well be her trying to communicate that she just isn't ready and has some more playing and exploring to do before nap time. Mine was just the same on too short an A time, he'd scream his head off trying to tell me he wasn't ready for sleep.  he also liked a super short WD to make the absolute most of his A time and didn't want to 'waste' any of it on long WDs.
I'd increase her first A time to 1hr 30 (you may get a 1.5hr nap on this) and 1hr 30 after a good nap (usually we'd say 1hr 30+ but if she regularly naps 1hr 15 then let's call that a decent nap for your LO at this point).  After a short nap of 35 mins go for an A that is only a little shorter, say 1hr 20. At this point she should be nice and ready for her WD and not fuss and cry so much about going to nap.

The 1hr 15 naps show that she is able to transition sleep cycles on her own if the circumstances are right. You could encourage this on the other naps by doing a few days of W2S, go in at 25/30 mins and begin to pat, pat her right through the transition and into deep sleep, it's ok if she opens her eyes a couple of times, expect to pat up to 20 mins after the transition to get her into deep sleep.  3 days then just observe day 4.

I would try the new A times for a week then reassess if any more changes are needed.  You are heading towards transition to the 4 hr EASY at 4 months so her A times are going to start to increase more rapidly in the next month.
hth

[kdawson]

Thanks a lot!  You were right....her A time definitely needed to be increased and I've certainly seen some improvement.  I think she is ready for a 4 hour EASY or at least close to it.  I have been able to get to 3.5 to 4 hours between feeds.  However, I noticed around the time when I started doing this that she went from waking up 1 time in the night to 2 or 3 times in the night.  She seems to be taking pretty much full feeds at night and it is at random times.  I would have thought it was a growth spurt but she doesn't really seem that interested in food sometimes during the day.  In fact, there's been a couple of time where it was 4 hours between feeds and she still didn't seem hungry but I fed her any way.  Is this a growth spurt do you think or something wrong with her routine?  Can she be going through a growth spurt that affects her only at night?

Also, if she can do a 4 hr EASY does that mean she is ready for 2 hour A time?  I ask because I've been putting her down between 1.5 hrs of A time after she wakes and she's almost doing 1.5 hrs of sleep but then I only seem to get 40 to 50 minutes of nap time for 1 hr 40 min'ish of A time (or less if she only got a short nap).  I just can't seem to get her A time right for the rest of the naps.  Maybe it's just because I've got to gradually increase her A time and she just needs to get used to it?  However, sometimes she seems OT and other times maybe UT??  I'm just not sure.

Thanks a lot for your help!! :-)

[kdawson]

Thanks a lot!  You were right....her A time definitely needed to be increased and I've certainly seen some improvement.  I think she is ready for a 4 hour EASY or at least close to it.  I have been able to get to 3.5 to 4 hours between feeds.  However, I noticed around the time when I started doing this that she went from waking up 1 time in the night to 2 or 3 times in the night.  She seems to be taking pretty much full feeds at night and it is at random times.  I would have thought it was a growth spurt but she doesn't really seem that interested in food sometimes during the day.  In fact, there's been a couple of time where it was 4 hours between feeds and she still didn't seem hungry but I fed her any way.  Is this a growth spurt do you think or something wrong with her routine?  Can she be going through a growth spurt that affects her only at night?

Also, if she can do a 4 hr EASY does that mean she is ready for 2 hour A time?  I ask because I've been putting her down between 1.5 hrs of A time after she wakes and she's almost doing 1.5 hrs of sleep but then I only seem to get 40 to 50 minutes of nap time for 1 hr 40 min'ish of A time (or less if she only got a short nap).  I just can't seem to get her A time right for the rest of the naps.  Maybe it's just because I've got to gradually increase her A time and she just needs to get used to it?  However, sometimes she seems OT and other times maybe UT??  I'm just not sure.

Thanks a lot for your help!! :-)

[creations]

Also, if she can do a 4 hr EASY does that mean she is ready for 2 hour A time?

Heading that way.
Is it the first A nap she is doing 1hr 30 sleep?  If so I would leave that A time as it is but the following one increase by 10 to 15 mins.  Some like a short first A, some a long, so you don't have to have them all exactly the same if you find your LO sleeps better with something a little different.
How about try for a few days then post a full days EAS times?

There is a 4 month GS, perhaps that was the reason for the Night feeds? Are you breast or formula feeding?
It's possible to increase E and A at different times, for instance if she needs a 4hr E but isn't ready for a 2hr A yet. I'd suggest writing it down each day so you can see where you are, and if you see a nap and feed about to clash bring the feed early and just leave a minute or two A between E and S.

[kdawson]

Thanks again.  You're a big help!  I will increase the later naps and see how she does and post in a few days as you suggest.  I did get a 2 hour nap from her this morning which was awesome and last night was a bit better too.  She woke up close to midnight but went back to sleep so I actually feel rested today!   I turned the heat up the room so maybe that has to do with it but could just be coincidental.